Every country has the government it deserves.

The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all.

The best of all rulers is but a shadowy presence to his subjects.

It is impossible to tell which of the two dispositions we find in men is more harmful in a republic, that which seeks to maintain an established position or that which has none but seeks to acquire it.

My people and I have come to an agreement that satisfies us both. They are to say what they please, and I am to do what I please.

What experience and history teach is this—that nations and governments have never learned anything from history or acted upon any lessons they might have drawn from it.

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul.

I say violence is necessary. It is as American as cherry pie.

O citizens, first acquire wealth; you can practice virtue afterward.

I shall be an autocrat: that’s my trade. And the good Lord will forgive me: that’s his.

The vice presidency isn’t worth a pitcher of warm piss.

Why has the government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint.

All the ills of democracy can be cured by more democracy.